Perth, Australia

Upper: Kangaroo with joey

Lower: Marianne and Brendan at Brendan's golf club.

Marianne and Phil at King's park overlooking the city.

Perth is absolutely lovely: parks, beaches, endless beaches, walks, bike rides, yummy food and Little Creatures beer. Phil and Brendan (my aunt and uncle) have been spectacular showing us around. Traveling around the world has been the time of my life, but I missed going out for long walks and not being hassled to buy things on the streets so Perth came at the perfect time. I could definitely see myself living here, it's such an outdoors area - reminds me so much of Portland in a way.

Some highlights:

We saw kangaroos and koalas yesterday. Kangaroos hide in the bush during the day to avoid the sun and come out of night. As we were driving home yesterday and the sun was setting, they were out in full force. They are such neat animals and nothing like them. To Australians, they're no big deal though.

The beaches. I can't express how absolutely beautiful the beaches here are. It's the end of winter here, but the weather is starting to get warm. I would say it was close to 70 degrees if not hotter as Phil took us on a walk along the beach where Heath Ledger was known for going and where they held the public part of his funeral.

Parks. There are SO many parks and all of them beautiful. Endless walking/running paths around the lakes and oceans.